Blur set to release new live album, just in time for a long long time ago!

Hey, sweet news, soccer hooligans! You know that British band, Blur? Remember, they were huge in the 90s for releasing that album Loveless that everyone is into? But then they had those two look-a-like brothers who just couldn’t keep it together because they constantly disagreed over which one of them was more sexually attracted to 1968-era John Lennon?? Then, on top of that, they got SUED by the Rolling Stones for using that string sample in their huge single and never made a dime??? Yeah, THAT band. That’s Blur. Jeez, are you sure you’re a music fan?

Well, either way, now’s your chance to get reacquainted with those “blimey blokes” or however people talk in the UK! As Consequence of Sound reports, they’ll be releasing a new live album called Live at the Budokan on August 11 of this year. I know what you’re thinking. And unfortunately, no, it’s not a Cheap Trick cover album. Instead, it’s a recording of the way-way-back 1995 set the band played at that venue in Tokyo, Japan in support of their then-current fourth record The Great Escape. Check out one of the tracks from it down below to decide retroactively just how much you loved that era of Blur and just how many copies you’ll be ordering.

By the way, the recordings were actually released in Japan a while ago, but this is the first time they’re being made available worldwide. So, you know, it’s a lot more important now. Oh, and there’s gonna be all-new album art and a remastering job courtesy of Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road. Which, I hope goes without saying, is the name of the orphanage where the Dave Clark Five members met each other.

Hey, sweet news, soccer hooligans! You know that British band, Blur? Remember, they were huge in the 90s for releasing that album Loveless that everyone is into? But then they had those two look-a-like brothers who just couldn’t keep it together because they constantly disagreed over which one of them was more sexually attracted to 1968-era John Lennon?? Then, on top of that, they got SUED by the Rolling Stones for using that string sample in their huge single and never made a dime??? Yeah, THAT band. That’s Blur. Jeez, are you sure you’re a music fan?

Well, either way, now’s your chance to get reacquainted with those “blimey blokes” or however people talk in the UK! As Consequence of Sound reports, they’ll be releasing a new live album called Live at the Budokan on August 11 of this year. I know what you’re thinking. And unfortunately, no, it’s not a Cheap Trick cover album. Instead, it’s a recording of the way-way-back 1995 set the band played at that venue in Tokyo, Japan in support of their then-current fourth record The Great Escape. Check out one of the tracks from it down below to decide retroactively just how much you loved that era of Blur and just how many copies you’ll be ordering.

By the way, the recordings were actually released in Japan a while ago, but this is the first time they’re being made available worldwide. So, you know, it’s a lot more important now. Oh, and there’s gonna be all-new album art and a remastering job courtesy of Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road. Which, I hope goes without saying, is the name of the orphanage where the Dave Clark Five members met each other.

Ever wondered what “trifecta” means? It’s quite simple actually. Let me give you an example. If you are at all interested in the underground electronic scene, you might have heard about the Stretch EP series a couple years back, featuring the elastic-but-choppy post-industrial beats that have come to characterize much latter-day dance music. If you follow Latin indie music, you already know that 2013’s best album was &&&&&; an eerie, dubby mixtape that once again managed to operate at the edge of contemporary dance music. And finally, if you’re into progressive hip-hop production, you might have noticed a young Venezuelan who’s been working with a vast gamut of people, going from Kanye West’s Yeezus to up-and-coming sensation FKA twigs. What those three have in common is Alejandro Ghersi (a.k.a. Arca)’s involvement; certainly one of the most promising talents out there right now. So there you go: trifecta!

It turns out that Arca has just announced a few US tour dates for September; he actually intends to take the joint show he premiered along visual artist Jesse Kanda at Pitchfork and MoMA PS1’s FORMS last October. But not content with that, Ghersi has added Total Freedom to the tour’s bill — and not just as an opening act! The show will first present Total Freedom and Arca DJing solo, but will close with a collaborative “4CDJ” set by the two. Jesse Kanda will provide visuals throughout the evening. The association between the two has been running for a while now, and aside from co-producing the TRAUMA video art piece, has also seen Kanda’s artwork featured in FKA twigs’ Arca-produced material. Total Freedom is best known for his noise-laden R&B mash-ups, which indeed makes his Arca collaboration something to look forward to.

The latest from Tri Angle Records is a new album by Bristol-based producer Vessel. It’s titled Punish, Honey, and it sounds as sleazy as it sounds. Just listen to the first single, “Red Sex,” embedded below. Dropping September 16, Punish, Honey could very well join what I’d image is a very small league of instrumental records slapped with the “Parental Advisory” sticker. And of those, I’d image it could very well be the only one where the artist made all the instruments. Oh yes…

You will hear Vessel make use of sheet metal, flutes made of sawed-up bike parts, and homemade guitars made of who knows what, among a handful of other dystopic constructions. “Vessel created his own set of crude instrumentation exclusively for this record,” reads the press release. Don’t you kind of wish more people did that?

But this is not a purely experimental album. Punish, Honey will also tackle themes of national identity and explore how it manifests in music. “What sorts of expectations does a musician, particularly an English one, when that history is so rich, take on?” he will likely inquire, over a cup of tea and a shrieking array of barb-wire-kotos (there’s an idea). He may be curious, but clearly he doesn’t care.

If you’re curious, but do care, look into Vessel’s lauded 2012 debut, Order of Noise, as well as “Red Sex” below, followed by the Punish, Honey tracklist.

Hahahahaha! Don’t you just love comedy?? Especially as it relates to albums of itself being released on indie labels?! I mean, I’m dying laughing already! Sarah Silverman — who is just the zaniest, isn’t she?? — has just announced that she’ll be releasing a new comedy album, entitled We Are Miracles, via the most tongue-in-cheekly-titled record label she could find: Sub Pop!

According to her hilarious press release, the new album, which comes out on September 22 (in Europe) and 23 (in the US) on vinyl, CD, and the funniest format of all, digital download, is “taken from the acclaimed performer’s Emmy-nominated first headline special for HBO.” HAHAHAHAHA! HA! Seriously though, the whole delightful farce was taped at Largo in Los Angeles, written by Silverman, directed by Liam Lynch, and produced by Funny or Die and Black Gold Films.

If you’re feeling particularly unfunny at the moment, you can also pre-order the album from the Sub Pop Mega Mart right now. While you’re waiting for it to arrive, you can check out a sample from the album, “Planting the Seeds of Insecurity,” as well as a special word from Silverman herself, down below. If, however, you’re feeling pretty hilarious today, you might wanna wait, as this shit is sure to make you realize how funny you’re actually not-being on a pretty regular basis.

Oh, and in slightly-less-funny-but-still-pretty-funny news, Silverman will also be touring as part of Funny or Die’s Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival later this summer. Peep those dates out too.

Silber Records started brewing something pretty fresh back in 2010. The experimental label’s zine offshoot, QRD, began interviewing as many out-music guitarists as they could possibly fit in their pages. Text piled upon text, and dreams built on top of dreams, until finally, something resembling a finished product revealed itself to the internet masses.

The Guitarists is that product, and man is it a doozy. All the interviews have been compiled in a 2,388-page ebook that accompanies a 50-page digital booklet. And that’s not all. The real draw here is the 55 tracks of guitar madness contributed by the interviewees (231 minutes y’all), with sweet shreds by the likes of Aidan Baker (Nadja), Alan Sparhawk (Low), Bill Horist (Master Musicians of Bukake), and a whole host of others. On top of that, The Guitarists only sets you back about twenty bucks, and gets you high for way longer than that measly dub sack you just wasted a Jackson on.

See the entire list of six-string psychos here at Silber, where you can also read every interview and pick up the entire package.